Is Dennis Miller getting his own show...

[NoCalMike 0]

I thought I heard something about this mentioned in a snippet on Bill Mahr's show but I don't exactly remember what he said. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

It's a go...

 

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - It's not quite full circle, but it comes close: After starting his TV career doing fake news on "Saturday Night Live," Dennis Miller will become a host on a full-time news network in the NBC family next month.

 

"Dennis Miller," his new show for CNBC, is scheduled to premiere at 9 p.m. ET Monday, Jan. 26. The show, which CNBC calls an "hour-long topical primetime talk show," will incorporate a review of the day's news, one-on-one interviews and panel discussions, all filtered through Miller's point of view.

 

"We're having a blast working with Dennis on this new program, and its great to have the team for the show finalized," says Pamela Thomas-Graham, president and CEO of CNBC. "Come January, 'Dennis Miller' will bring a new kinetic energy to our primetime lineup."

 

Eddie Feldmann, who worked with Miller on HBO's Emmy-winning "Dennis Miller Live," will serve as senior producer and head writer for the CNBC show.

 

Following a six-year stint as the "Weekend Update" anchor on "SNL," Miller moved on to a short-lived syndicated late-night show in the early 1990s. "Dennis Miller Live" aired from 1994-2002 on HBO, where Miller also did a number of stand-up specials. ABC had him in the booth for "Monday Night Football" for two seasons, and he was a Fox News Channel contributor before joining CNBC.

[MrRant 0]

I have my Tivo set to record it.

[NoCalMike 0]

It almost sounds like a clone of Real Time with Bill Mahr.......It will be worth watching, definately.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Well this is exactly what we need. I don't want to go off on a rant here, but the concept of Dennis Miller hosting a talk show on CNBC makes about as much sense as a poodle having sex with a Rottweiler in right field of Yankee Stadium on the evening of Pentecost. I mean, when you consider the inherent dearth of conservatism in American media, one has to ponder the ramifications of a presumptuous investment like this. It's fuckin' crazy.

 

Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.

 

I wish Dennis Miller the best of luck, by the way.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

I'll check it out -- I hope it'll be better than Hannity & Colmes (which won't be hard to do, imo.)

 

Oh, here a more in-depth article about the show and Miller:

 

LOS ANGELES -- Dennis Miller, the liberal-turned-conservative comedian and defender of President Bush and the war in Iraq, is less than two weeks away from being the host of a new talk show on CNBC. For him it can't come soon enough.

 

"People say I've slid to the right," Miller said in his office at the NBC Studios in Burbank, speaking in his rat-a-tat-tat style. "Well, can you blame me? One of the biggest malfeasances of the left right now is the mislabeling of Hitler. Quit saying this guy is Hitler," he said, referring to Bush. "Hitler is Hitler. That's the quintessential evil in the history of the universe, and we're throwing it around on MoveOn.org to win a contest. That's grotesque to me."

 

Miller, who was speaking about television advertisements submitted to a competition held by MoveOn.org Voter Fund, a liberal political group, was just getting started.

 

"Did you see the Democratic debate the other night?" he asked. "To me, Dennis Kucinich's politics are more scrambled than Rod Steiger's dream journal. And Clark? He's a wizard in many ways, but when I hear him speak, it's almost like he's slumming. There's a mensch discrepancy there. At least John Edwards, who to me is a reasonably shallow guy, at least he can dog-paddle around in that park and not look out of place."

 

Miller's rapid-fire monologues and obscure, even weird cultural references -- Rod Steiger's dream journal? -- have made him one of television's most visible comedians over the last two decades. He was a regular on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" from 1985 to 1991; had an Emmy Award-winning weekly series on HBO, "Dennis Miller Live," in the 1990s; worked as a film and television actor; was a commentator for two seasons on ABC's "Monday Night Football;' and most recently was an essayist for Fox News.

 

Miller's metamorphosis from iconoclastic liberal to free-wheeling conservative -- which he partly attributes to the Sept. 11 attacks -- has not only made the 50-year-old comedian an esteemed figure on the Fox network. It has also made California Republicans, who have triumphed with a movie star in the governor's mansion, look to Miller as a possible opponent to Sen. Barbara Boxer, the liberal Democrat who is up for re-election this year. (Miller supported Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign for governor and performed last summer at California fund-raisers for President Bush.)

 

Miller said he told the Republicans he had no interest in running against Boxer, largely because winning would mean moving to Washington from Santa Barbara, where he lives with his wife and two children. "They inquired about my availability to run against Barbara Boxer, but I'm not at the point where I would consider it," he said.

 

His new hourlong show, "Dennis Miller," at 9 p.m. weeknights (with a repeat of one show on Sundays), will premiere on Jan. 26. It will include his usual venting on current issues, as well as interviews with political figures, journalists and others, and a nightly "right-left" debate among figures at different points on the political spectrum.

 

Pamela Thomas-Graham, president and chief executive of CNBC, said Miller's "kinetic energy" appealed to the network, mostly an outlet for financial news. In hiring him, she said, CNBC hoped to retain and expand its daytime audience with a politically savvy show. She said the CNBC daytime viewers were probably "interested in relaxing at night" with material that reached beyond Wall Street.

 

Thomas-Graham said Miller's political positions had played no role in the decision to hire him. "We are completely agnostic in that direction," she said. "We were looking for someone who has a point of view and is willing to defend that point of view."

 

Miller is not a traditional conservative. "I've always been a pragmatist," he said. "If two gay guys want to get married, it's none of my business. I could care less. More power to them. I'm happy when people fall in love. But if some idiot foreign terrorist wants to blow up their wedding to make a political statement, I would rather kill him before he can do it, or have my country kill him before he can do it, instead of having him do it and punishing him after the fact. If that makes me a right-wing fanatic, I will bask in that assignation."

 

Miller said he remained socially liberal. "I think abortion's wrong, but it's none of my business to tell somebody what's wrong," he said. "So I'm pro-choice. I want to keep my nose out of other people's personal business. I guess I fall into 'conservative' when it comes to protecting the United States in a world where a lot of people hate the United States."

 

The Sept. 11 attacks, Miller said, changed him.

 

"Everybody should be in the protection business now," he said. "I can't imagine anybody not saying that. Well, I guess on the farthest end of the left they'd say, 'That's our fault.' And on the middle end they'd say, 'Well, there's another way to deal with it other than flat-out protecting ourselves.' I just don't believe that. People say we're the ones who make them hate us because of what we do. That's garbage to me. I think they're nuts. And you've got to protect yourself from nuts."

 

Miller's decision to join CNBC came after a somewhat troubled time in his career. He said he was fired by ABC in 2002 after two seasons as a commentator on "Monday Night Football" when the network had a chance to hire John Madden. Miller's reviews had been mixed. He said he enjoyed being a sports commentator and had no ill will toward ABC. "As soon as Madden left Fox, I pretty much knew I was going to be whacked," he said. "Here was Madden, the Pliny the Elder of football announcers. And they were going to stay with the kid?"

 

"I was having fun," Miller added. "I had alienated half the community, and probably half of them liked me. Which is pretty much my batting average. I began to see maybe a decade ago that my career was never going to be in complete approval. I wasn't endearing."

 

As open as he is about his political views, Miller is reticent about his private life. He grew up in Pittsburgh and says his mother, now dead, is "a sainted figure to me." His parents were estranged, and he declines to talk about his father. (One of Miller's brothers, Jimmy, is a partner in Gold/Miller, a Hollywood management company that represents stars like Jim Carrey.)

 

Miller said that as a youth he worked in delis and scooped ice cream until he realized that his life was going to turn into a "Kafka novella" unless he began seriously pursuing comedy. He started performing in clubs and on local television in Pittsburgh, then moved to Los Angeles, where he met other struggling comedians. Jerry Seinfeld got him a gig at the Improv, and Jay Leno found him an apartment. He remains close to both. He appeared on television with David Letterman and later auditioned for Lorne Michaels for "Saturday Night Live."

 

"He looked at me and goes, 'Would you like to do my newscast?"' Miller recalled. "And I said, 'Yeah, I would,' and he said, 'Well, I'll see you tomorrow.' And then I walked out. And I remember thinking, 'My life has just changed."'

 

Miller said his own comedic influences include Jonathan Miller, Richard Pryor, Richard Belzer and Leno. He speaks more hesitantly about the two comedians with whom he has often been compared, Mort Sahl and Lenny Bruce. He said he had transcripts of some of Sahl's early shows and was amazed by them. But then he lost interest. Sahl, he said, became too close to the Kennedy family and was "a savage name-dropper." Miller added, "It always reminded me to watch myself."

 

He is even tougher on Lenny Bruce. "Lenny was a heroin addict, and I could care less about heroin addicts," Miller said. "Once I hear a guy is a heroin addict, and they tell me he's a genius, I think, 'Really?' I'm not trying to be judgmental. But anybody whose last vision is of a tile pattern on a bathroom floor, I don't know what kind of genius they are."

Edited January 19, 2004 by kkktookmybabyaway

[NoCalMike 0]

I'll be watching. I hope it is more like Politically Incorrect/Real Time and less like Tough Crowd.

 

At least Miller is admitting that he is still pretty socially liberal as opposed to trying to pretend he has magically turned conservative across the board.

[Lando Griffin 0]

I like Tough Crowd. It's pretty damn offensive, and that's a good thing.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Is Tough Crowd still on the air?...

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Oh yeah, you really want to beat that Bush/Hitler drum hard don't ya? Never mind it was one entry (well, two, there was a similar ad that went virutally unnoticed becase the RNC didn't host it) out of thousands.

 

I can't imagine Miller without the words Cock and Fuck, but I guess I can try. He really started getting unfunny when he landed at FNC though, partisanship or no.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Oh yeah, you really want to beat that Bush/Hitler drum hard don't ya? Never mind it was one entry (well, two, there was a similar ad that went virutally unnoticed becase the RNC didn't host it) out of thousands.

If that post was for me:

 

I didn't beat that drum -- I was simply pointing out what Miller said, since we seem to have a George W. Hitler running gag going on here.

 

Hell, I WANT more Bush = Hitler ads/speeches/etc. They're funny as hell...

[NoCalMike 0]

Oh yeah, you really want to beat that Bush/Hitler drum hard don't ya? Never mind it was one entry (well, two, there was a similar ad that went virutally unnoticed becase the RNC didn't host it) out of thousands.

 

I can't imagine Miller without the words Cock and Fuck, but I guess I can try. He really started getting unfunny when he landed at FNC though, partisanship or no.

I will have to agree here. Is, "Bush is Hitler" all it took for Miller to turn republican!?! Because I remember quite well from day one with Clinton it was, "Clinton is a communist blah blah blah" and would imagine any left leaning future president will be called the same thing. So I guess that mean when a Democrat takes back the whitehouse one day, Miller will come back to the left as well!?!

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

I will have to agree here. Is, "Bush is Hitler" all it took for Miller to turn republican!?!

 

I think it's a little deeper than that -- I think Miller now calls himself a "conservative" (if he's even that; I don't think he is) because of the Left's way of wanting to deal with national security and all that good stuff...

[NoCalMike 0]

I will have to agree here. Is, "Bush is Hitler" all it took for Miller to turn republican!?!

 

I think it's a little deeper than that -- I think Miller now calls himself a "conservative" (if he's even that; I don't think he is) because of the Left's way of wanting to deal with national security and all that good stuff...

Well yeah I understand that, but other little things about him piss me off now. For example when he was on Mahr's show last year, the issue of tax cuts came up and they were talking about the rich getting the cuts and Miller threw in a backdoor comment at the very end of the conversation like, "well I as I understand it, they do pay the most" azif he suddenly has AWAKENED to that fact, and he NEVER knew it before, and he has just now seen the light. I just think it is cheap.

[MrRant 0]

WTF does that have to do with anything? He threw out a comment at the end. Jesus.

[Guest MikeSC]

I will have to agree here. Is, "Bush is Hitler" all it took for Miller to turn republican!?!

 

I think it's a little deeper than that -- I think Miller now calls himself a "conservative" (if he's even that; I don't think he is) because of the Left's way of wanting to deal with national security and all that good stuff...

Well yeah I understand that, but other little things about him piss me off now. For example when he was on Mahr's show last year, the issue of tax cuts came up and they were talking about the rich getting the cuts and Miller threw in a backdoor comment at the very end of the conversation like, "well I as I understand it, they do pay the most" azif he suddenly has AWAKENED to that fact, and he NEVER knew it before, and he has just now seen the light. I just think it is cheap.

Being accurate is cheap?

-=Mike

[NoCalMike 0]

I will have to agree here. Is, "Bush is Hitler" all it took for Miller to turn republican!?!

 

I think it's a little deeper than that -- I think Miller now calls himself a "conservative" (if he's even that; I don't think he is) because of the Left's way of wanting to deal with national security and all that good stuff...

Well yeah I understand that, but other little things about him piss me off now. For example when he was on Mahr's show last year, the issue of tax cuts came up and they were talking about the rich getting the cuts and Miller threw in a backdoor comment at the very end of the conversation like, "well I as I understand it, they do pay the most" azif he suddenly has AWAKENED to that fact, and he NEVER knew it before, and he has just now seen the light. I just think it is cheap.

Being accurate is cheap?

-=Mike

No, see, it wasn't the comment itself. However what I am trying to say is that what he said is nothing that he hasn't known for years while he has argued this issue from the left. Now all of the sudden because someone called Bush, "Hitler" he suddenly is on the other side of the tax debate too!?!

[MrRant 0]

People can't change their minds? Perhaps he saw some facts he didn't know before. Fuck.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

I think he ALWAYS KNEW that rich people paid more in taxes.

[NoCalMike 0]

I think he ALWAYS KNEW that rich people paid more in taxes.

exactly.......ugh this is useless.

[Some Guy 0]

Oh yeah, you really want to beat that Bush/Hitler drum hard don't ya? Never mind it was one entry (well, two, there was a similar ad that went virutally unnoticed becase the RNC didn't host it) out of thousands.

 

I can't imagine Miller without the words Cock and Fuck, but I guess I can try. He really started getting unfunny when he landed at FNC though, partisanship or no.

I will have to agree here. Is, "Bush is Hitler" all it took for Miller to turn republican!?! Because I remember quite well from day one with Clinton it was, "Clinton is a communist blah blah blah" and would imagine any left leaning future president will be called the same thing. So I guess that mean when a Democrat takes back the whitehouse one day, Miller will come back to the left as well!?!

First off anyone who calls Bill Clinton a Communist is foolhardy at best (his wife is certinaly Marxian though) Clinton is a left leaning oppurtunist. He'd sell any belief he had/has down the river if the polls told him to. And calling someone a communist isn't really a horrible thing, calling someone Stalin would be. There's the difference, calliong Bush a Facist, while totally stupid and ignorant would be fine, calling him Hitler is absolutely crazy. Hitler was responsible for the deaths of 6 million or so people and a psychopath. Bush is not.

[The Czech Republic 0]

If you read The Rants, from back in 1995-ish, he really doesn't sound that liberal at all.

[Guest Olympic Slam]

Oh yeah, you really want to beat that Bush/Hitler drum hard don't ya? Never mind it was one entry (well, two, there was a similar ad that went virutally unnoticed becase the RNC didn't host it) out of thousands.

 

I can't imagine Miller without the words Cock and Fuck, but I guess I can try. He really started getting unfunny when he landed at FNC though, partisanship or no.

I will have to agree here. Is, "Bush is Hitler" all it took for Miller to turn republican!?! Because I remember quite well from day one with Clinton it was, "Clinton is a communist blah blah blah" and would imagine any left leaning future president will be called the same thing. So I guess that mean when a Democrat takes back the whitehouse one day, Miller will come back to the left as well!?!

First off anyone who calls Bill Clinton a Communist is foolhardy at best (his wife is certinaly Marxian though) Clinton is a left leaning oppurtunist. He'd sell any belief he had/has down the river if the polls told him to. And calling someone a communist isn't really a horrible thing, calling someone Stalin would be. There's the difference, calliong Bush a Facist, while totally stupid and ignorant would be fine, calling him Hitler is absolutely crazy. Hitler was responsible for the deaths of 6 million or so people and a psychopath. Bush is not.

I gave up labeling Clinton long ago. He's basically a power hungry politician who will say, or do anything to gain power. He'd go full-on Communist if he thought it would get he and that hag wife of his more power.

[DMann2003 0]

I would think that Miller is closer to a Libertarian or Classical Conservative.

[The Czech Republic 0]

I would think that Miller is closer to a Libertarian or Classical Conservative.

I think Dennis Miller said he was a libertarian (no capitals) in an interview once.

[Guest BDC]

If we put some work into it, maybe we can get him to go Green...

[MrRant 0]

It seems that people just have an issue with him not really defining what camp he is in.

 

Deal with it.

[Guest Deebo]

I just saw that his first guest is Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sweet.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Nuts. I fell asleep when it was on.

 

Anyone watch it?...

[Guest Olympic Slam]

Nuts. I fell asleep when it was on.

 

Anyone watch it?...

I watched. It was entertaining and, not surprisingly, a little rough to start. Miller admited right away that it was the first episode and things were going to be a little rough.

 

1. Has a paint-by-numbers interview with Arnold. I was too busy fumbling around with my Taco Bell to really pay too close attention. It was mostly Arnold talking about what he wants to do for California in typical Arnold speak. Good first guest, but this was more Larry King than Bill O'Reilly. Oooh, what a burn!

 

2. The next segment, which is a great idea, is basically Miller going over the latest news in the same style as his Weekend Update stint from SNL. Great idea, pretty funny. Miller was a little nervous, but it came off well. Most jokes were followed with laughter from the camera men and the other production crew members. This was a nice touch and it didn't seem overly forced. The "laugh-track" was just generous enough to let the viewer at home know when to laugh, but not loud enough to seem forced. Good segment; not sure how he's going to be able to do this FIVE(!) days a week. The writers for this segment could very well make or break this show with this segment alone.

 

3. Discussed possible ideas for the show. Both were funny. (Winner gets a Bill O'Reilly No-Spin Zone mug, was a good gag)

 

4. The Varsity Panel Discussion. My home boy David Horowitz, author/economist David Frum and social commentator/insane left-wing feminist Naomi Wolf discuss politics while Miller moderates. They discuss the War on Terror and New Hampshire. More paint-by-numbers stuff, but still A-ok for a first show. Miller let them do most of them do the talking. Ironically, Naomi Wolf could actually be kind of hot if she dropped 30 pounds. Anyone who has read her essay the Beauty Myth will get the irony of that.

 

5. The show ends with Miller making a quick final statement about ending the space program and implementing a system of bullet trains. I like how they had a swerve~! ending to set that statement up.

 

All in all, a not half bad show. Still better than watching Hannity & Colmes, which airs opposite. I can't believe they're going to go with this show for 5 days a week. Miller is a funny guy and he's more informed than the average celebrity, but I think five days a week is a bit much to ask. I'm shocked that O'Reilly can do it. The Weekend Update bit will make or break this show.

 

Tommorow Night: John McCain and primary coverage. I'll tune in. Anything to get me away from Hannity.